Breath and Chi Kung

Scott Cole

Scott Cole has a great talent for de-
mystifying Eastern spiritual practices. He
brings a down-to-earth approach to
teaching disciplines such as tai chi and chi
kung. Because the segments in this DVD are
short, they are ideally suited to the time-
crunched.

“Breath and Chi Kung” is divided into three
sections. In the first section, “Breathing and
Letting Go of Stress” (about 11 minutes)
Scott demonstrates deep breathing and
stress reduction techniques from yoga,
martial arts, tai chi, chi kung — and
demonstrating he doesn’t take himself too
seriously — a technique he learnt from an
acting coach in LA! Scott also explains the
physiological reasons why these techniques
really do work. He demonstrates the
exercises in a chair; once you’ve learnt
them, you could easily do them at work
when you get stressed out.

In the second section, “Chi Kung Energy
Exercises” (about 15 minutes) Scott takes
the viewer through an simplified chi kung
routine. I like to use this segment to get
focused and energised when I really don’t
feel like working out – it works every time!

In the third section (about 8 minutes) Scott
demonstrates his “Eight Poses of
Empowerment", a slightly more challenging
chi kung routine.

Overall, I think this is a useful DVD for
anyone who suffers from stress, is short on
time and is curious about Eastern spiritual
practices. The production values are less
than stellar, but I would still recommend
"Breath and Chi Kung" as a worthwhile
addition to your exercise DVD library.

Instructor comments:
Scott is a charismatic and knowledgeable
instructor who is easy on the eye and has a
very pleasant voice.